dancpharmd's review
5.0
I've read a lot of m/m fiction between reading my wife's work for Dreamspinner and doing galley proofs for them as well. This was a book I had the distinct pleasure of proofing. I can't recommend this book highly enough. The characters are well written and motivations never seem contrived. Blaydon tells an intriguing story set in 1950s California, back when LGBT was just a random set of letters that don't carry the meaning they do now. Best friends Billy and Kit are returning to high school after a summer apart and something seems off, especially when Billy starts acting strangely around Leonard, the new student at their school.
What I loved most about this book was how it effortlessly blended the story of Billy's love for Leonard with its ramifications on his friendship with Kit. I felt very invested in both relationships and thought that Blaydon did a great job of showing how a close friendship between men - regardless of orientation - can be frought with some of the same difficulties that you see in romantic relationships.
Summer Song is her first book for DSP, but I'm eager to read more from Blaydon.
What I loved most about this book was how it effortlessly blended the story of Billy's love for Leonard with its ramifications on his friendship with Kit. I felt very invested in both relationships and thought that Blaydon did a great job of showing how a close friendship between men - regardless of orientation - can be frought with some of the same difficulties that you see in romantic relationships.
Summer Song is her first book for DSP, but I'm eager to read more from Blaydon.
jkh107's review
4.0
Sweet and funny. I just died laughing with the Catullus references--Leonard put them to good use though! The joys of a Classical education! Shifting the narrators around so much without identifying them was a little frustrating.
verloren1983's review
4.0
What can I say, I‘m a sucker for teen gay novels. ^_^;;; My biggest beef is, once again, POV changing without warning. I -hate- that. If you‘re going to change the POV, fine, but freaking TELL ME you‘re doing it, otherwise it‘s very confusing till it clicks in my brain that oh, this must be Y‘s POV now instead of X‘s. GAH. At least with this one it only goes with chapter changes, so after a couple of chapters, when there‘s a new one, you realize that the POV is going to change. ANYWAY. LOVED this. It’s absolutely adorable and hit all the right notes with me, though in the rating I did dock a point for the POV thing. Because that pissed me off. I think my favorite thing about this book, aside from the ending, is the completely awesome phrase of “butterflies of DEATH“. Haha. Context isn‘t funny, but the phrase is great. This author has a very unique way of phrasing things, sometimes, and it‘s lovely.
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